The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shared the photo, taken by Dana Menk, back on November 30, but it started to go viral just this week. The FWC posted the image on Facebook, naming it one of the commission's favorites in a manatee-photo contest. And while it does look as if the manatee is giving the gator a lift, that's not actually the case, according to the commission.

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The gator happened to be swimming over the manatee, and the photo was snapped just at the right time.

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"I would guess that these manatees were hanging out near warm water or heading to warm water and the alligator was looking for a sunny spot to hang out along the shoreline and they simply crossed paths," FWC spokesman Ron Mezich said in a statement to Orlando's WKMG-TV. The statement also noted that alligators are not usually a threat to manatees.

But Facebook commenters had fun with the idea that the gator was hitching a ride. "Even alligators have Ubers," wrote Alex Noles.